This book was very interesting. I love the flow of the writing. I didn't want to put it down. Just keep reading.

Unable to download before archived as my tablet was damaged and I had been unable to afford a new one until recently. Apologies.

This was.. interesting. It has promise as the first in a series, but it never really captured me the way it should. I mean, a kid and step dad go missing and then the kid comes back 17 years later? No step dad? Did he kidnap him or were there aliens..well...yes, aliens and the very stereotypical kind. I really wanted this to be more than it was.

REVIEW: Midnight Vista Volume 1

Midnight Vista is based on a personal and true story from writer Eliot Rahal. Oliver Flores and his stepfather leave for ice cream and are abducted by aliens. Years later, Oliver returns as an adult. He remembers everything except why he was returned. Will the people in his life believe him? Will he figure out why he was returned?

The story is a lot of fun. Alien abduction stories can start to sound the same, but Eliot Rahal adds emotions and humor in such a way that the book is unlike anything I have seen before. Oliver Flores is a child stuck between fighting parents and the first few pages are heartbreaking. Parents are arguing over a custody arrangement not caring that the child is in the other room able to hear it all. The sadness of the book is balanced perfectly with humor. My favorite line in the entire book comes from the “Human Federal Bureau of Investigations”. These agents are so much fun, they are just awkward enough. At one point while talking to the locals the agents say, “Next time we are in town the first round of baked potatoes are on us.” Every once in a while a line is so good that I have to tell everyone. This book is full of them.

The art, colors, and letters work in perfect harmony. Clara Meath is able to show so much emotion in the characters. When you see the “agents” for the first time you instantly know that they are not human. Even without their awkward dialogue, they remind me of Men in Black and the alien wearing the Edgar suit. They just don’t look correct. Mark Englert’s work with colors helps guide the mood. When Oliver and his stepfather leave for ice cream everything is soft, but then you turn the page and everything takes on a blinding red. You know that something bad is about to happen. Taylor Esposito is magic with the letters. At the beginning of the story Oliver’s parents are fighting and he is in the living room watching TV. We know that he can hear them fighting, but in the panel, Esposito’s letters keep getting bolder and bolder as Oliver turns up the TV. It was like I could hear the TV getting louder. It was a powerful touch that helped the art and colors tie together to put me in that scene.

Overall, Midnight Vista is a story that you will want to read multiple times. This creative team takes you on a journey that will leave you wanting more.

Creative Team:
Creator and Writer: Eliot Rahal
Creator and Artist: Clara Meath
Colors: Mark Englert
Letters: Taylor Esposito
Published by Aftershock

I liked the opening of this book better than the conclusion. I liked thew questions, the contemplation of what might have happened to this boy. As soon as his narrative became clear truth I found it rather less compelling, especially since other characters had flat or hard to grasp motivations.

This was probably one of the weirdest comics I've ever read. That's not really a bad thing, and the art was up my alley, it was just odd. I don't believe for a second this is a true story, I'm not sure why the author is even trying to pass it off as one, but to each their own. I feel like this may continue working, I'm unsure if it's going to continue, but it's... It's cool. Generic, but cool.

Like I said, the art was really up my alley. It's surreal, but not in an indistinguishable way that some of these artsier comics have. I was a fan of the general vibe it gave off, and the colours were perfect for what they were trying to do. On that note, though, it was a little difficult to look at sometimes. There was a lot of extraneous gore that was a little off-putting for me personally.

All in all, a decent comic, if you like alien cult stuff it's probably one to pick up!

<i>arc provided by the publisher and netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

DNF

The premise of this one sounded really cool and entertaining but sadly I just couldn't get into the story. The art style also wasn't my favourite and the vibrant colours were beginning to make my eyes hurt so all of this is ultimately why I decided to not continue with this.

I might try it in a physical version one day and see if that's easier on my eyes!

If you're looking for something with spooky aliens, check this one out!

Rating 4.5/5

A kid and his step-father go missing while on their night out to get some ice-cream. The case was reported as ‘missing persons’ but after no progress, they both were declared dead by the police. Years later, the kid, now all grown up, returns, claiming to have been abducted by aliens. Now, it’s up to the detective, fishy FBI agents, his mom who believes in aliens, and a cult leader to find out what really happened.

This is a very cool graphic novel with all the alien abduction tropes you’d expect to find from such Crazy alien experiments, prodding up the nose and opening up of the guts for ‘research’ (this particular panel was especially very gory, but in a good way), then there is telepathy, and mind control. The blurb suggests it is based on a true story but idk about that. The illustrations and especially the placement of the panels was really good, and the attention to details was exceptional. I’d be nit picking here, but the human faces looked a bit like aliens too, but other than that, I really enjoyed it.

The story flows in a real good pace, and you’d keep on suspecting every other character that appears. There was a bit of a fun too on the part of aliens (and humans too), for how stupid they can be for someone claiming to be the intelligent species. The ending is a bit rushed and abrupt but makes for a perfect (and a bit predictable) ending to this story.

Thanks to Netgalley, and the publishers for the review copy.

Whoopsie. The title of this book refers to a street where two major things happened. One, a kid and his step-father got abducted by aliens, who did the usual probing-up-noses, "ooh let's see those guts" research; and two, return of a naked more adult kid, seventeen years after his vanishing became a media darling of an unsolved kidnap case. That's all good – and the way some dipshit other aliens are following him for their own unexplained purpose despite him thinking he's free is perhaps even better. But then we hit issue #5, the last in this trade, and we see everything collapse into pants-ness. I so much wanted something much better than what we got to close this story out. It's almost as if, without giving too much away, the trip to see the Starchild in 2001 was re-directed by the Pokemon guys – with added grey matter. I guess such an off-kilter, illogical ending is only to be expected from a guy who thinks he's a survivor of a UFO ride, but his storytelling nous was fine until then. So you're going to turn to this, hoping to be able to stop after four issues – and fail, and see the fifth for yourself out of curiosity – and that, my friends, is the biggest fail.

I thank netgalley for the digital arc.

This is an alien abduction story, which are usually my think , but I didn't vibe with the art style and it didn't really match the story very well. The story was okay, nothing amazing, but I think while it was a fun read, I'm not going to continue on with this series.

As someone who hasn't read a whole lot of comic books or graphic novels, I will admit this may not have been the story for me as a reader. But overall the story was interesting, but not fleshed out to my liking (maybe over more books this will be redeemed) and the characters and plot felt very face value. The story seems to be exactly what was on the tin (and not much more). The art style is very well done and the inclusion of a weird cult was a nice narrative choice, but overall, this fell flat.

Writing your life is certainly one of the hardest things to do. Especially when you reach a point in your life that nobody can fundamentally understand. The stories of alien abductions are all too common, so much that they can change how you look at the world. Yet unlike series that have an overtone of the Cthulhu Mythos, while things are supposed to not make sense to an observer being left in a state of confusion feels more frustrating. Even the men in black suits aren't really all that compelling. For one why has someone not called the FBI to file reports in order to find out if they're who they say they are. These MIB have no reason to exist in story other than their ties to UFOlogy conspiracies. I really liked seeing Olly interact with others as they feel so real. Just the fact that people look at him with suspicion just because of the events surrounding him. It really calls into question how people can be so alienating from one another. But that potential just feels so wasted with the conspiracy parts of this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

1.7 stars ⭐

It follows a boy who was abducted by greys (with his stepfather) and he comes back to earth with an unknown purpose.

I absolutely LOVE everything alien-related, this was definitely what attracted me to this comic. It was a good read overall, introduced things about aliens that we are pretty much familiar with.
The end was ???? an ending I guess haha... unfortunately there are a lot of conveniences in the story, the characters are not very likable and there's some weird dialogue... all made me not able to truly connect with the story.

Thank you to Aftershock and Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Midnight Vista.

This was a fun and interesting read about a young man who is abducted by aliens as a child only to suddenly be returned as an adult. It deals with his trying to understand why he has been sent back to Earth and the effects his disappearance had on his family. Add in a creepy cult and some unusual Men in Black into the chase and this series has some many amazing places it can go. I look forward to a second volume.

'Midnight Vista' by Eliot Rahal with art by Clara Meath is a graphic novel about an alien abduction and the aftermath.

Oliver Flores and his stepfather, Nomar Perez, are out one night when they get abducted by aliens. The aliens do pretty horrific things to both of them. One day, Oliver just shows up. Now older and confused, he finds he is being pursued by people who want to harm him.

This story started out well, but just lagged and drooped in the execution, finally ending with Oliver in a weird, but familiar, Hollywood religion. It feels like the story arc just got tangled somewhere. The art was different in a way I kind of liked.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Aftershock, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

MIdnight Vista was beautiful, original, bizarre, and cool. All the things I love in a good comic or graphic novel. Yet another example of great work shared by Diamond Book Distributors -- do not go gentle into that good night, DBD. A vibrant read that's recommended.

Aw man! I was with this one until the last two panels and then it just sort of fizzled. LOL!
At any rate, it's a pretty cool alien abduction story, which is apparently based on events the author believes really happened to him. There are aliens, Men in Black and even a super creepy cult leader, so there are good elements. Plus I dug the art.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I was hooked from beginning to end! This graphic novel takes you for a ride! Heartbreak, fear, action, justice, wonder, and belief are what you get from this ride. I’m amazed at just how immersive and well constructed it is. The strong narration had me rooting for Oliver the whole time and on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next. It does a fantastic job of switching from memories back to the present and other perspectives. I never thought I could be frightened of alien “human” agents but the artwork and dialogue makes this fright so! Overall, this was a serious and heavy graphic novel but the brief instances of humor balanced it out to add to the experience of this book! I ended it disappointed that the assumed 6th part isn’t out yet.

This is a fast-paced alien-type abduction story. I thought it was well thought out and the graphics are really good. Recommended.

A child goes missing in 2002, then reappears in what is billed as the present day (though obviously it's pre-Event), claiming to have been abducted by aliens. He's one of the really famous missing kids, too - a New Mexico Madeleine McCann* - so a media shitshow surrounds and exacerbates an already difficult situation. Writer Eliot Rahal, interestingly, describes it as autobiographical - though in his own case he only lost a few hours. Still, the premise feels an awful lot like a hybrid of two other comics, Saucer Country and Birthright - maybe with a dash of Flex Mentallo in the alien scenes, though that could just be a certain echo in Clara Meath's art style. The highlight is undoubtedly the Men in Black doing their absolute best to be normal: "yes...thank you, hello...what nice weather we are having. Small talk, small talk, small talk. We are from the human Federal Bureau of Investigation." Even there, though, it's annoyingly unclear whether they seem as weird to the characters as to the reader, and if not, why not.

*Which feels curiously optimistic when he's a Latino boy, rather than the usual angelic Caucasian girl.

(Netgalley ARC)